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Breaking Benjamin lead singer Benjamin Burnley fired his bandmates after learning they made unauthorized decisions on behalf of the band, according to court documents. Dave Scherbenco / The Citizens' Voice

The Wilkes-Barre band, which gained worldwide fame for alternative rock anthems focused mainly on affliction and adversity, has been torn apart by a feud between its namesake lead singer and two longtime bandmates, according to a trove of court documents obtained by The Citizens' Voice.

The dispute, over a new recording of the band's hit song "Blow Me Away," erupted in May when lead singer Benjamin Burnley fired the bandmates, guitarist Aaron Fincke and bassist Mark Klepaski, via e-mail.

Burnley detailed his side of the dispute in a June court filing, saying Fincke and Klepaski made unilateral and unauthorized decisions on behalf of the band, including giving permission in May for the new recording and remix of "Blow Me Away" without his consent.

Burnley, through his attorneys, said Fincke and Klepaski approved the revised version of the song, for use on greatest hits album slated for release Aug. 16, after their record company offered a $100,000 payment. At no time, Burnley said, did Fincke and Klepaski or their representatives inform him, the band's lawyer or management that the offer was even made.

In a July court filing, attorneys for Fincke and Klepaski - known professionally as Mark James and Aaron Fink - said they "dispute and strictly deny" Burnley's allegations. At issue, the attorneys said, is the validity of a January 2009 partnership agreement giving Burnley permission to dismiss Fincke and Klepaski for "cause."

The agreement, the attorneys for Fincke and Klepaski said, was invalid after Burnley told his bandmates in June 2010 that he was ill and could no longer perform live concerts. Around the same time, the attorneys said, Burnley refused to perform at a concert in Vancouver, B.C. and has appeared on stage only twice since.

Representatives from the band's management, Career Artist Management in Los Angeles, Calif., declined comment Monday on the status of the group. Burnley, Fincke and Klepaski, and their attorneys, could not be reached for comment.

Burnley, who founded Breaking Benjamin in 2001 and is listed in court papers as its "sole founding member," posted a message on the band's website in June 2010 dispelling Internet rumors that the band was breaking up.

The rumors had spread quickly after the band abruptly stopped touring in support of its fourth album, "Phobia." In the message dispelling the rumors, Burnley claimed ongoing "health issues" were preventing him from touring, but that those issues did not signal the end of the band.

Burnley played two acoustic shows in July 2010 without his bandmates, but wrote to fans, "This is no way means that I have left, or am ever going to leave, Breaking Benjamin."

Burnley later disclosed that he suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and neurological damage fueled by years of alcohol abuse. Breaking Benjamin played its last major hometown show in March 2010 to a sold-out crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township. The last updates on the band's Twitter and Facebook pages came in July 2010.

Over the past decade, Breaking Benjamin racked up three platinum-selling albums and multiple top-20 singles and had their songs featured in the movies "Wrong Turn," "Surrogates" and "National Treasure" and the video game "Halo 2."

Klepaski and Fincke joined Breaking Benjamin in late 2002, according to Burnley's court filings. Klepaski and Fincke had been members of the local band Lifer, which gained notoriety after winning MTV's Ultimate Cover Band Contest and signing a recording contract with Universal Music Group.

Breaking Benjamin, with Klepaski and Fincke on board, also began to gain fame, building a die-hard fan base in the Wilkes-Barre area. Their single, "Polyamorous," hit MTV2 in 2002 and their debut album, "Saturate" received major airplay, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart.

Chad Szeliga replaced original drummer Jeremy Hummel in 2005. The same year, Hummel filed a lawsuit against Burnley, Fincke and Klepaski, claiming he was unfairly kicked out while on paternity leave and that band members had refused to share profits from songs he helped write.

Burnley, in the June court filing, said he is entitled, under the band's partnership agreement, to retain ownership of the band's name and had the "exclusive right" to tour and record under the Breaking Benjamin banner in the future.

msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061

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